Meet Kim Blake | Founder of The Art of Ceremony | Jewelry Designer & Ritual Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Blake and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I didn’t start The Art of Ceremony because I had some perfect business plan. I started it because I was trying to create a life that felt more meaningful, more beautiful, and more true.

It began with a deep love of adornment — the feeling that what we wear can hold memory, intention, and energy. Over time, that opened into something much bigger. I realized I wasn’t just making jewelry; I was building a world around the things that help us come back to ourselves: beauty, ritual, grounding, and presence.

The Art of Ceremony grew out of my own longing for that kind of life — one where everyday moments could still feel sacred. What started as something deeply personal slowly became something I wanted to share with other people.

In many ways, I built the business I needed myself, and then trusted that others might need it too. That has really been the thought process all along: to create something beautiful, meaningful, and real enough to support people not just in special moments, but in everyday life.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What I create lives at the intersection of beauty, ritual, and real life. On the surface, people may first see the jewelry, the stones, or the visual world of the brand — but underneath all of it is a deeper intention: helping people feel more connected to themselves, to beauty, and to the meaning inside ordinary moments.

My jewelry is the first language I learned. My mother was deeply gifted with fiber arts, and I grew up at her feet making tiny knots with my hands, learning patience, texture, care, and the quiet magic of making something from almost nothing. Looking back, I can see that so much of what I create now began there.

What sets my work apart is that I’m not just making objects — I’m building experiences. The Art of Ceremony is rooted in three pillars: Adornment, Earth, and Experience. Through those, I create jewelry, crystal-based offerings, guided activations, meditations, and now Ceremonial Trails, which is one of the things I’m most excited about right now. The trails feel like such a natural evolution of the work: taking everything I care about — beauty, presence, place, story, and ritual — and shaping it into something people can physically walk through and feel.

I’m also building an app to house my activations and meditations, which feels deeply personal because those practices changed my own life first. I didn’t create them from theory — I created them from lived experience, from needing grounding, healing, and a way back to myself.

Right now, there are a lot of exciting things unfolding. Our Motoring Stones — handcrafted crystal talismans designed for the car — have become a meaningful part of the brand’s growth and are positioned for destinations, parks, and travel retail . We’re also growing through PawStones on Chewy, and I’m developing Harmonic Resonance at Sea, as well as beginning conversations around ceremonial audio in hospitality and cruise programming. To me, that’s the most exciting part: the work keeps expanding into new environments, but it still comes from the same core desire — to make life feel more meaningful, more beautiful, and more alive.

Professionally, I got here by continuing to follow what felt true, even when it didn’t look linear or easy. And no — it definitely wasn’t easy. There have been many moments of uncertainty, reinvention, and learning how to hold both the creative side of the work and the practical side of building a business. I’ve had to grow into structure, systems, and visibility while staying connected to the heart of why I began in the first place.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that your work becomes stronger when you stop trying to fit it into someone else’s shape. The more honest and specific I’ve become about what I’m actually building, the stronger the brand has become. I’ve also learned that beauty is not superficial — beauty can be healing, regulating, orienting, and deeply transformational.

What I want the world to know about me and my brand is that The Art of Ceremony was built from real devotion. It comes from a longing to make life feel more meaningful, more grounded, and more beautiful. I believe ceremony belongs in real life — not just in rare or perfect moments, but in the everyday moments that ask us to come back to ourselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting, I’d make it a road trip that starts in Tucson and unfolds west. We couldn’t leave without Mexican food first — for me that’s beef patty tacos at El Minuto or flautas at St. Mary’s — and probably a little Tucson shopping at Mast before we hit the road.

On the way to LA, I’d stay a night at Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs. It’s exactly the kind of place I love: mineral hot springs, old-school quiet, and rooms intentionally designed for a digital detox.

In LA, I’d do three very specific things: for the “person/place” stop, Flamingo Estate — Richard Christiansen’s lush hillside world of gardens, slow pleasure, and old California magic.
For a museum, The Broad — free general admission, contemporary art, and such a good downtown energy.
For the beach, Zuma in Malibu — wide, classic, beautiful, and easy to settle into for the afternoon.

Then I’d head to Ojai Valley Inn for the spa and spend the night there. Spa Ojai is one of those places that instantly changes your nervous system, and the whole property feels expansive and restorative.
From there, I’d wander Ojai a bit and eat at Farmer and the Cook, which is one of my favorite kinds of places — organic, soulful, and rooted in the valley.

That kind of trip would feel like the best version of life to me: beauty, hot springs, art, ocean, good food, and a little bit of magic all along the way.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First, my partner Kevin deserves so much credit. In my moments of doubt, he has been the one who kept believing in me, sometimes more than I believed in myself. He has been a steady light, and that kind of love and encouragement matters more than people realize when you’re building something from the heart.

My best friend Edna Gray also deserves a huge shoutout. She is an incredibly successful businesswoman, but even more than that, she is someone who genuinely supports other people’s dreams. She has been a real source of encouragement, possibility, and belief.

I’m also deeply grateful to Peter Mulk and Jeannine Mateo at Canyon Ranch Boutique. Peter gave me my first show, which meant so much, and Jeannine took me under her wing with such generosity. She is a sales floor genius, and I learned a lot just by being around her.

I’d also give a lot of credit to Marie Forleo and B-School, which helped me think about my work in a more grounded, empowered, and structured way.

And then there are the books and teachings that shaped me along the way: Find Your Why, This Is Marketing, Blue Ocean Strategy, Big Magic, and meditations from Joe Dispenza. All of them, in different ways, helped me trust my path, stay connected to purpose, and keep building from a deeper place.

Website: https://theartofceremony.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theartofceremony/